Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff
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Matthew McConaughay
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- May 3, 2013
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Yeah in his 1st NHL season he was 2 PM / game so 160 minutes over over season, this year it was almost 3, which would be 240 PM in a season and thats too high. And the uptick was in minor penalties.
A guy who can skate like WiFi shouldn't be getting all those minor penalties as it usually means a player is out of position because he can't skate or doesn't know his position or, or he is just taking needless dumb penalties.
I haven't seen him in Laval but the stats look good, the media reports sound good and Houle was tossing huge praise on him. He may be a number 4-5 D, but he could be a Unicorn. Only an idiot would trade this guy.
Would be nice if we had management that recognized you need at least a little bit of everything to win a Cup. We had MT and MB who had a bias against anybody who could tie their shoes as they thought the guy was too dainty , and they wanted to win with blue collar lunch pail guys, kind of in their own image.
Now I wonder if MSL appreciates that you need some junk yard dogs on the team. I mean I think Wifi did need to curtail things a bit but I just hope MSL ( and Hugjes) values what he brings.
HabzSauce
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- Jun 10, 2022
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Is there actual beef between MSL and Xhekaj? I haven't heard anything besides what I've heard here from a few comments
Fans can’t accept that sometimes the player they like isn’t quite ready, so they make up stories to make themselves feel better
I doubt it. I think them sending him down was both just due to convienence and that the org values Arber and knows the more they can develop his IQ and skills the easier it is to keep him in the lineup and not worry about having a sub-par player in there just to be the sheriff. I think he has a lot of talent, but it might make sense to give him more time instead of rushing him because he can stick around in the NHL.
I think about Chris Nilan talking about his own development, and how Gainey and others stayed late and put in extra time for him to develop his skating and skills to make sure he could play at an NHL level. Arber has way more natural talent and athletic gifts than someone like Nilan, not to mention the training available today. By taking more time with him, they could take a unicorn like him to another level. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Habs value X very highly among all these young Dmen, and they are taking extra time with him even though he could play in the NHL right now.
It's a rumor started by Laraque based on Xhekaj being told to stop chasing hits and getting stupid penalties (he was at 2.75 minutes per game in the NHL).
Xhekaj is working on what management told him to work on, stopped getting too many penalties and even improved his offensive game.
Matthew McConaughay
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dackelljuneaubulis02
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could there be a scenario where we can move him and our D corps is still contender worthy? Possibly.
He has more runway ahead of him than Struble and Xhekaj and I’d still say he easily has more upside. He’s played more meaningful and harder minutes than those 2 while being younger.
To me he’s still the potential cornerstone back there. Maybe no one is truly untouchable but some are more than others and he’s still probably the last D man I’d move.
They did the same with Emelin in terms of the hitting and I think they neutered the guy. I mean yes, you get out of position when you hit, but that guy made opposing players keep their heads up because the last thing they wanted was to be on TSN highlights being head over heels hip checked by Emelin.
MSL wants to loose the offensive hounds, he should do that with the guard dogs too. Though again, I think Wifi was undisciplined with the penalties this year and some polish in Laval is fine.
I read a lot of people speculating that St Louis doesn't like Arber, I don't think that is the case at all. Perhaps he felt he was getting a little complacent this year and needed to light a fire under his ass. Arber is a character guy, just like St Louis. He will be a part of the big club for many many years.
dackelljuneaubulis02
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They’re not trading him. He’s practically a PPG down there and seems to be improving his all around game and doing everything asked of him.
I don’t know what his upside is but he clearly has special tools. Doing as well as he is down there is no small thing. He’s not Armia. He’s a 22 year old undrafted player with less than 70 games of NHL experience. Still plenty of time to get better
I don’t know what his upside is but he clearly has special tools. Doing as well as he is down there is no small thing. He’s not Armia. He’s a 22 year old undrafted player with less than 70 games of NHL experience. Still plenty of time to get better
I get why he's been sent down to work on his game, especially if they value the player longterm. He's also waiver eligible and this management has shown a reluctance to lose players (primeau, lidstrom etc) on waivers - even if other dmen were playing worse than him
it was started by former players now in the media like Laraque and Nilan - who obviously, see a lot of themselves in the player
Has much as I like Wifi, sending him in the AHL was the best thing for him and the habs. Struble stabilized our D and we started reducing our pims per game while Xhekaj got to work on his overall game. The penalties he was taking were not for hits but laziness. Its a good way to learn being sent in the minors.
MasterD
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Big time BS. They kept him up all year last year and he made the team out of camp this year. They like him and what he brings, he just objectively wasn't that great this year.
Second year slump? Inflated ego? Bad luck? Who knows... he just needs to get his shit back together defensively and he'll be back with the Habs.
Amen. Good player, tons of potential, still raw. There's no rush, the Habs are trash and will be for a few years.
MasterD
Giggidy Giggidy Goo
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If that was the case, he'd still be enjoying a nice career in the NHL after being traded. He just wasn't a very smart player, didn't bring much offense, and was often out of position.
Big hits don't make a good NHLer. Don't take me wrong, I want the Habs to be MUCH harder to play against then they've been for the past 30 years, but Emelin wasn't it.
Not big time BS, I acknowledge Wifi needed to curtail things but wonder how his physicality is valued. And I'm not against him playing in Laval.
Lol. Yeah, Emelin wasn't the smartest guy and pretty light on the offense for sure. But for me, when you have a guy that can hit that hard on a regular basis he impacts the game positively and that outweighs the negatives he brought.
Opposing players took notice of him on the ice, and he affected their games. Guy like Lucic was driven crazy by Emelin. A player like that has value. And it's fun to watch.
DAChampion
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Douglas Murray and Alexei Emelin were a ton of fun.
Mrb1p
PRICERSTOPDAPUCK
Hannibal
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DAChampion
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MasterD
Giggidy Giggidy Goo
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He thinks every player has a dormant offensive superstar hidden inside of them because that's how his career went.
Not different than coaches who were bad players that play 4th liners 18 minutes a night.
BLONG7
Registered User
There has to be some kind of deal in the works.............there is no way The Sherriff is staying in Laval.
Bring him back, and have him play on one pair, and leave Struble on the other..............both of these guys would give the other teams fits....
Trade SAvard/Matheson/Kovacevic, someone............
Bring him back, and have him play on one pair, and leave Struble on the other..............both of these guys would give the other teams fits....
Trade SAvard/Matheson/Kovacevic, someone............
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